Clearing the air

A North Carolina program called "Clean School Bus NC: Kids Breathe Here" was among nine projects in the U.S. to receive the Clean Air Excellence Award from the EPA in early April. The program used local, state and federal funds to replace, repower or retrofit 1,891 school buses with exhaust controls and implemented policies and incentives to reduce idling by bus drivers.

The project was a joint effort of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) Transportation Services Section and the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources Division of Air Quality.

"Our statewide transportation team keeps over 13,000 buses running safely on a daily basis," said NCDPI transportation services director Derek Graham. "In addition, they have been eager to embrace new technologies, alternative fuels, reduced idling policies and various clean air education initiatives to help ensure the health of students."